Farewell My Concubine

Farewell My Concubine, is a Chinese film set in early 1930’s in China. The film spans 53 years which is through the Nationalist government, the Japanese occupation, the Communist takeover, and the Cultural Revolution.

The film is the story of two Beijing Opera actors who are Douzi, played by Leslie Cheung and Shitou, played by Fengyi Zhang. Dousi is pretty and feminine featured boy, but Shitou is a strong and manly boy. As they spend their childhood together and go through the harsh and intensive training of dancing and singing, they feel very deep and strong brotherly affectionate each other.

           They both become very famous actors, and play king and queen in their trademark performance Farewell My Concubine. They are maintaining a good relationship for a long time, however when Shitou get married a prostitute(Ju Xian played by Li Gong), Dousi feels extreme jealousy to her, starts drugs and ruins his own life.

The film shows their heydays and tragic endings of their careers following political and social changes in China.

The film is one of the first Mainland Chinese films to feature homosexuality and gender identity as a central theme, and Chen Kaige(the Director) personally considers it his apology to his father, whom he had publicly denounced during the Cultural Revolution. It's also considered one of the finest films of modern Chinese cinema.